Battle of Caribou

The Battle of Caribou was a small cavalry battle of the American Revolutionary War which was fought in early 1776.

Although Nathanael Greene's Patriot army secured Maine's capital of Falmouth, the British sent small groups of Native American and Tory cavalrymen to raid into northern Maine, seemingly beyond the reach of Greene's army. In response to the raids, the Continental Army cavalry general Marion Wheatley led two regiments of cavalry (162 troops) north from Falmouth to confront Nickolas Jefferson's 90 Indian auxiliary cavalrymen near the mines at Caribou in northern Maine (then a part of Canada).

The Native auxiliary cavalry were equipped with muskets and wore British uniforms to show their allegiance; the American cavalrymen brought their own horses from their farms and only had swords. However, they had superior numbers, and they were able to absorb the natives' first and only volley of musketry before completing their charge into the native cavalry unit. In a battle which was ultimately a contest of numbers, the superior patriot force massacred the native riders, killing all but three of them and destroying the small raiding force. Wheatley was rewarded with a promotion from colonel to general, and he became the leader of a cavalry force which would fight off British raids in the north.